Perry darted through the woodland, barely paying any regard to Totem, her blue, feathered friend, who was struggling to keep up with her. When she wanted to be, she was fast but often preferred to take her time and marvel at the woodland flora and fauna. Today, however, she had somewhere she wanted to be. She took a running leap over one of the crystal-clear brooks that meandered lazily through the gathering of leafy green trees and cleared it easily, not hesitating as she wove her way around the trunks on the other side.

She finally saw the trees begin to thin and caught sight of the thin overgrown track, patterned with sparse wheel ruts for the richer, cart-owning inhabitants to utilise. She paused before she reached it, instead selecting a nearby tree and hoisting herself on the lower branches. She climbed until she got to a substantial, high-up bough that would accommodate for her weight and settled there, her eyes barely moving from the track.

She'd heard from various travellers whispers that the King's own nephew - on his way to Harore's capital - would be passing through Azakina today and down these very lanes. Perry found it hard to contain her excitement; she may finally glimpse a royal cart, or even a royal, themselves. She felt a grin light her face, hearing the beating of Totem's wings as he finally perched on a branch above her, staring at her curiously. Though excitable, Perry wasn't usually this eager to get somewhere.

It wasn't long before she heard the thundering of horses' hooves. She strained forward as a tiny black carriage appeared in the distance and made its way down the track, rattling loudly. She watched, mesmerized, as it clattered past her. Curtains were drawn tightly across the windows but the quality of the silver highlighting around the joints of the carriage showed evidence of excessive wealth. It was them, alright.

It was all over in a matter of seconds, but she'd been waiting all week for it. She sighed, allowing her mind to wander. To imagine what it would be like if it was her riding in that carriage, on her way to the capital...

She shook herself from her thoughts and shot Totem a quick grin. Scrambling down from the tree bough, she realised she still needed to gather some food and despite half the day having already passed, she still needed to fill her basket - which was currently empty. She was far from most of the fruit reserves and so she needed to start now if she was ever going to reach them today and still have time to gather. No doubt the people of the tribe would be ready, waiting to scold her. She wasn't known for her time-keeping skills.

She sighed, again, and begun heading back through the woodland.

John saw an elven woman on the same well-worn path in the woods. He wasn't as well-dressed as she was, but elves in the woods and hills rarely were. They led hard, poor lives, often dressed in the minimum needed. He had a pair of long pants and little else, while female elves who lived in the woods only used what was needed to conceal the parts not meant for public viewing. As the realm was warm for most of the year, this worked out quite well.

"Can those royals get any more wasteful?" he had been traveling down the path for some time, heading in the same direction as Perry was. He had just caught a quail and was bringing it to a market, hoping to get a decent price. Hunting had been sparse these past few months, and while he had enough to eat, there wasn't much to sell. Luckily, the rainy season was only a couple of months away, and game would move back into the woods. Unless the rains came late this year. They were starting to do that more and more.

"I haven't seen you around here before" Perry added. "Are you new to these woods?"